I just saw that Zimmerman is not guilty according to the jury. Somehow that doesn't seem right. He was the adult and should have followed the rules for neighborhood watch people. I'm not saying the kid was all innocent but he was the teen. It just seems all wrong. Any input?

What little I've seen, is that most sharply disagree with the verdict, and the verdict is a major symptom of Florida's Stand Your Ground laws. There was a woman, who was convicted and is serving 20 years, for shooting her weapon, not hitting anyone, and she claimed Stand Your Ground, just like Zimmerman. There is way too much ambiguity in the law to be consistent.

From the way I've had it explained is that you must be in your home or business (not out in the yard) and they must be breaking in or the like. Though I've seen people argue it different like just self defense. Just sad. Common sense out the door.

in my area. A man shot and killed a young man who was robbing a local Waffle House not five miles from my house. He wasn't charged. I'm not sure if the robbers had guns, but the restaurant was open with customers and staff there. Another couple discovered they had a squatter, at a house they were renovating. Instead of calling the cops, they confronted and shot him, even though he was unarmed...they cited Stand your Ground. Another man noticed a couple of guys breaking into his apartment upon returning home from an outing, He got a gun from his glove compartment, confronted and killed the would be intruders. The only reason he's in jail, is because he was already on parole for other charges, and was not supposed to be in possession of a weapon.

Of the three cases, all in my area, the first is the only true, defensive case, as one doesn't know if people willing to rob a 24 diner with customers inside, would do.

I don't think we have the Stand Your Ground law in California. I can almost picture myself offing an annoying skateboarder because he scared my dog, or maybe all those annoying people who insist on walking down the sidewalk in front of my house when I want to water my lawn, or the asshats who keep on driving down my street when all I want to do is back out of my driveway. Seriously, though, Trayvon didn't deserve to die. Even if he had been an annoying punkass (I have no idea if he was polite or combative; I wasn't there), and it's more likely that he annoyed or pissed off Zimmerman than actually making him fear for his life, even if he mouthed off or flipped him the bird or didn't share his Skittles, that's no reason to kill a kid.

neko2 wrote:I just saw that Zimmerman is not guilty according to the jury. Somehow that doesn't seem right. He was the adult and should have followed the rules for neighborhood watch people. I'm not saying the kid was all innocent but he was the teen. It just seems all wrong. Any input?

I'm astonished at this verdict. I don't think that in the UK Zimmerman could have got away with this.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. -- Winston Churchill

badplantmommy wrote:I don't think we have the Stand Your Ground law in California. I can almost picture myself offing an annoying skateboarder because he scared my dog, or maybe all those annoying people who insist on walking down the sidewalk in front of my house when I want to water my lawn, or the asshats who keep on driving down my street when all I want to do is back out of my driveway. Seriously, though, Trayvon didn't deserve to die. Even if he had been an annoying punkass (I have no idea if he was polite or combative; I wasn't there), and it's more likely that he annoyed or pissed off Zimmerman than actually making him fear for his life, even if he mouthed off or flipped him the bird or didn't share his Skittles, that's no reason to kill a kid.

There is another case of a guy shooting teens because he felt threatened. This time it was at a convenience store. He asked the kids to turn down their music. They said something back talky and he shot them. Of course that is a little simplified. I don't see how that was standing his ground but he is using it as a defense.

badplantmommy wrote:I don't think we have the Stand Your Ground law in California. I can almost picture myself offing an annoying skateboarder because he scared my dog, or maybe all those annoying people who insist on walking down the sidewalk in front of my house when I want to water my lawn, or the asshats who keep on driving down my street when all I want to do is back out of my driveway. Seriously, though, Trayvon didn't deserve to die. Even if he had been an annoying punkass (I have no idea if he was polite or combative; I wasn't there), and it's more likely that he annoyed or pissed off Zimmerman than actually making him fear for his life, even if he mouthed off or flipped him the bird or didn't share his Skittles, that's no reason to kill a kid.

--J--

Y'all can't even carry weapons, so probably not.

So if I shot somebody with a (hypothetical) weapon I wasn't supposed to be carrying, in self-defense, I'd get in trouble for it? Damn!

Stand your ground laws are in 31 states...I know fucking nuts. It was interesting to see a certain Senator from Arizona suggest that these laws need to be scrutinized. He's right, there are way too many ways to interpret these laws.